Xpera Group Blog

Client Spotlight: Suffolk Construction

We’d like to think Xpera has played a role in helping them do just this over the years.

Under the leadership of Steve Easton, our Building Envelope Quality Assurance team has quite a long history with the firm, dating back to the days before Boston-based Suffolk acquired locally owned Roel Construction in 2011. (Xpera later acquired the Roel’s Consulting Services counterpart in 2012.)

For 15+ years, we have had the opportunity to lend support to Suffolk for a wide variety of large-scale projects, ranging from multi-family to commercial office buildings to hospitality projects, across San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County and even the San Francisco Bay Area.

We recently took the opportunity to speak with two of our long-time client contacts at Suffolk, Vice President of Operations Robert Cruden and General Superintendent Drew Peterson, to get their feedback about what makes this collaboration so successful.

“Xpera has provided a myriad of services to us,” said Peterson. “One of the key services is plan review. We’ll receive a new set of plans and have them do a constructability review as it relates to the building envelope – plaster, waterproofing, etc. – focusing on how everything ties in.”

Another important service Xpera waterproofing consultants provide is on-site inspections from below-grade to plaster, roofing and, in some cases, window testing. Easton and his team also participate in critical team meetings to lend their expertise and insights on variety of quality assurance issues and construction material self storage in Suffolk.

“When we sit down with the architect, it’s extremely helpful having Steve in the room,” said Peterson. “When he suggests things, it’s not from the standpoint of a salesman trying push some product. He knows which products perform best, including how they interface with other building systems, so we always really value his input.”

Xpera currently has two active projects with Suffolk in San Diego, including a new 23-story, 300-unit residential tower at Westfield UTC, and an 80-unit apartment project known as Bluewater for Affirmed Housing on Fairmont Avenue.

In 2017, Xpera and Suffolk collaborated on another high-profile project, Atmosphere in downtown San Diego. Suffolk hired Xpera’s Building Envelope team to provide waterproofing expertise and Xpera CM also served as the construction manager for the owner, Wakeland Housing. The 12-story affordable housing project included 205 units and three levels of below-grade parking.

“Sometimes owners will tell us they are not fond of waterproofing consultants,” said Cruden. “From their perspective, these consultants are always trying to sell them something. I tell them it’s not like that with Xpera. After they meet with Steve and see how he presents things, they are happy they did.”

“We can count on Xpera to come up with practical, economical methods to handle whatever situation comes up,” he added.

“Whenever Steve and his guys come on the job, they are not just inspectors, but really become part of the larger team. They are very collaborative, and it creates a whole different atmosphere on the project. They are not there to say ‘gotcha,’ but instead really help the team and find solutions.”

We thank Rob, Drew and the entire Suffolk team for continuing to trust us with their complex projects. We look forward to collaborating for many years to come.